Hi, I am Lisa from South Louisiana, about 70 miles southwest of New Orleans towards the Gulf of Mexico...my must have plant...hmmm...well it is a tree! It is the Canary Island Palm. I just love palms and live in a subtropical zone. The plant I could do without is poison ivy!!Way to much of it here!

I'm Doris, from Mt Prospect, Illinois which is about 20 miles northwest of Chicago. My must have plant, which I just got is called Million Bells. Only certain nurseries are allowed to sell them. Looks similar to small petunias but really neat! I could do without Creeping Charlie who is trying to take over the world, starting with my yard!!

Hello! I'm Diane and I'm from Middlesbrough. That's at the mouth of the River Tees in the north-east of England. My must-have plant is the rose - which I can't plant at the moment cos of replant problems that we have with them in England. I could happily live without ivy. One tiny houseplant grew up the garage and lifted off the roof-tiles - made it an extremely expensive houseplant!!

Hello
I'm Kathleen from far western New York State, US. One plant? That is a cruel test! For the farm, it would be orchard grass (too wet for alfalfa here), for my soul, it would be the big rugosa rose. It blooms first and last and has lovely big hips! A plant I could live without would be nut sedge.

hello, I'm Dori from mid michigan-hold up your left hand. see the little curve between your index finger n thumb-thats where I'm at!(never without a map of my state).
My flower that i have to have is night scented stock(cant find my seeds)the fragrance is the best.
I could live without creeping charlie and the mints that seem to take over!!
have a good one everyone,
dori

Hi everyone!I'm Ladyhawke, and if I have to pick one plant, it would be columbine hands down. It comes in a variety of colors and forms, and you never know what your going to get, when starting from seed. Even after the blooms are gone, you have the nice fernlike foliage. In central california, where I'm from, it is "evergreen", and doesn't go into a dormant stage, so you have nice green foliage all year round. At the moment, I have about 45 such plants growing in my garden, and another 20 seedlings that I started this spring.

I'm Debby and I currently live in Hampshire which is south central England. I was born in the Black Country though (for those who don't know its west Central England) 'Ow Do Marigowld'

Can't do without plant is umm (Mark why only one..there are so many!) lol, Digitalis of any species, or any in the Scrophularia genus (did I get round the rule?). The one I could happily live without is the Rose, although I do house a couple. Fodder wise Timothy grass is my favourite such soft leaves and great hay smell.

Well, I'm from the middle part of the great state of Tennessee, also known as the Volunteer State, since Davy Crockett took some fellas down to Texas to help defend the Alamo a few years ago. (Did I tell that story right, all?)

Our state university's nickname is the Volunteers, and we are big fans; hence my DG name of "Go_Vols". Not to be confused with voles, which we also have here in this state. And our yard.

Favorite plant? Peonies. I know they're kind of fussy and all, but they were one of my grandmother's favorites, and every time I smell a peony, I am reminded of that wonderful woman. Another favorite (because you can't have one favorite - it's like choosing a favorite child from among all my children) would be lilac. Although they don't do well this far south, they carry many childhood memories for me, as they were prolific bloomers in Nebraska, where I grew up.

Hi there all,
I'm Melody from south west Kentucky.I live just a few miles from the Tennessee state line and very close to Kentucky Lake.Do a web search on Kentucky Lake and you can see lots of our pretty resort area.

Tomatoes!!!! can't live without 'em! All shapes ,colors and tastes.I live for my tomato season.

If I have to choose something that flowers...Crape Myrtle.I have several and will get more this season.

Hi Mark,
I'm Sandy and I, like Dori, am in Michigan, sort of on the thumb knuckle, and right across the bridge from Sarnia, Canada. my all time favorite is the peony. The beautiful full blooms and the luscious fragrance they emit. Smalling peonies just puts a smile on my face.
So how about you Mark...where are you from and what is your "must have" plant?
Sandy

Hi, I am from Northern California about 250 miles noth of San Francisco. Located near the coast in the Mountains we are blessed with a mild climate and beautiful forests of coastal redwoods, fir, cedar and pine.

The plant that I absolutely cannot do without is the fuscia.
Any type of fuscia. They are lovely and the humming birds love them.

Hi,
I'm Jackie and I live in North Wales on the border of Cheshire (old sheep-rustling country!)
I love most plants but adore Phlox Paniculata...they really do flower their socks off for such a long time.
I am not too keen on michaelmas daisies...but the only plant I cannot abide(in the garden) is bracken...grrrr!
I don't know much about fodder crops...but if it counts,red clover!

I live in Northeast Alabama on Sand Mountain overlooking the Tennessee river.The plant I would not want to do without is old rose that belonged to my ancestors that lived around here, least liked poison ivey I can nevver get rid of it.

FERNCLIFF MY Sister is building a house on sand mountain alabama (bryant)-wow ya'll are neighbors.
my greatniece goes to school at floralcrest on sand mountain. This is really neat-she has like 80 blueberrybushes and tons of stuff!!! kewl beans!!!

Mark and all, I am Margaret from Co. Wicklow, Ireland. Houseplants are my thing, but overall, the plant I would be very sad about if I hadn't got it is the Viola in all its varieties, Irish Molly, Maggie Mott, Jackanapes and so on - is that cheating? Mark kidnapped me on the WWW and brought me to Dave's Garden!

Hi notmartha.
Your sister will love Sand Mountain. The upper end of the mountain where Bryant is is a haven for all kinds of wild flowers. Floral Crest used to grow acres of flowers for the market and I suppose still do. Say Hi to your sister for me

Hi,i'm Gwist and I live in Biel,a little town on a lake between Basel and Bern,Switzerland.
My must-have plant is Clerodendron Ugandense(blue butterflies),but my cant-do-without plant is Columbine.I just love they way they spread and change every year.I think I started out with 6,but now..woohoo!
Gwist

Hi, I'm Meg. I live in Great Falls, Virginia. About 20 miles west of the nations capital, Washington, DC. My favorite plant would probably be hydrangea (big, blue)...brings back good memories (of Grandmother too) and also the lilac...they smell beautiful (I sound like go_vols)! The plant I would love to never see again, but unfortunately have creeping all over my property, is the ground cover, Chameleon...this plant is like the everready battery...it just keeps going.

HelloIm Shirley and I live in Pennsylvania south of Pittsburgh in the mts. I am a retired pastor and medic supervisor and do national disaster response for Church World Service as a volunteer. Gardening is a hobby of my youth that I am returning to in y retirement. My have to plant is lilac-the old fasbioned strong scented ones of my younger days-it announces spring in the mts. The one in my yard is about 15 feet high and covered with blooms I dont have a can do without plant- I guess I love even the so called weeds because thy are part of nature. So many wonderful people here in Daves Garden.

Hey Gwist, Mine is yellow, I want to get back and get one of the cherry colored ones and they have sort of a bronzy color one too. They are really neat! I wonder what other colors they come in? I'm glad you let me know you have one so if I have a problem with mine or you do, maybe we can compare notes! Doris

i live in springfield, massachusetts, in the western half of the state.
my favorite flower (that i know about so far :-) ) is the hydrangea. oh picking one is just so hard, its like picking just one favorite color. i'm an artist and there are just sooooooooooooooo many nice colors, just like i'm discovering there are sooooooooooooooooooo many nice flowers.
my least favorite, so far... :-) are "yew" sp? vines and then trees that grow in the woods behind my house. they and there roots invade everywhere. i even sawed down a couple and the dang trunks are sprouting, the little buggers. LOL guess they have to be tough to survive all the other stately trees that are in the woods.
thanks mark for a great thread.
debi z

I'm Rob and I am in Lewes in Sussex near the South coast of the U.K. I am 50 miles south of London, 8 miles East of Brighton or 10 miles West of Eastbourne. Favourite plant? Cuckoo flower or ladies smock. Favourite garden plant? any good auricula. Plant I would most like to see the back of? GROUND ELDER. Rob.

For me there is only one plant that matters, the zonal pelargonium - I'm a one-plant woman. The miniatures, the tricolours, the great big tall old ones with their huge heads, the cactus-flowered, the single flowered or double flowered - they're so forgiving (they need to be, with me), the seeds that are like miniature surprises - each one a potentially wonderful new plant - the range of colours, the plain velvety leaves and the leaves with brown, yellow, red splashed across the green. In the garden they come into their own, their leaves thicken, their heads grow sturdy, they simply blossom. As house plants they are superb also. You can grow them as tall as trees, if you have a mind to, or as tiny as tiny bonsais, if you're short of space. Each is unique, different, yet they all share such wonderful characteristics, they are gentle, kind and, like cats, quite happy on their own, but welcoming whenver they see you. There, have I convinced you?

Hi, I'm Lily and I'm from Ireland, the south-east, though I live near the city now. My favourite plant is waterlilies, and I don't like Lupins, I don't know why. When I settle down, I want a house with a lovely long meadow behind it, full of all sorts of plants, wild and all. No lawn to mow.

I'm Cindee and I'm from Santa Cruz, CA, where everyone seems to have exquisite gardens cause everything seems to grow like crazy here. Santa Cruz is a coastal city 2.5 hours south of San Francisco and 45 minutes south of San Jose, a magnet for surfers.

I love any plants that are chartreuse (green-yellow) but I can't say I dislike any plants yet--I even like oxalis.

I have a beautiful Oxalis, so there! It's Oxalis magellanica, and it has tiny reddish waxy leaves and big white flowers. It grows between all the rocks in the rockery (OK, and between all the other plants, too), and it's covered in flowers now. There are lots of other nice Oxalis, too. I don't have them, but I want them.

Hi everyone, I'm Robyn. I live on Ward's Island just off the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in Lake Ontario. Thanks Mark for asking people to introduce themselves, especially those of us who usually browse. Currently I am obsessed with Lilies - all types - they love our sandy soil. I manage to keep to my Lily gardens in bloom from June to September. I don't see many Canadians here, are you also out there lurking in browse mode? Let's hear from you too - this is an amazing web site.

Hi! I'm Samantha, from a little town in Ontario. Gee Robyn, we're almost neighbors! The plant (right now!) I'm most excited about is the Columbine group. I think they're awesome! The plant I'd most like to aquire is a Ginko tree. The one I most detest is the Dandelion!

Hi I am Helen and live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada - very temperate climate here, I have bananas and figs growing in my garden, do protect them in the winter with sacks around the plants.

My favourite plant is the iris have lots of them and most have been grown from seed by me.

Least favourite is the rhododendron, had two in the garden, when we bought the house last year. I got my daughter to yank them out with her 4x4 truck, I said she could have them and good riddence to them!

hello, i'm Sue from Essex, UK and have just joined today, I'm really enjoying the site but i find it a bit confusing, either it's me or the painkillers for my slipped disc! I'm a frustrated gardener whose back is stopping her from getting her hands in the soil. I can't quite work out if i can trade seeds with anyone or just in the UK, can you clarify for me please, also i'm stunned at how many people know so much about plants and seeds, i'm going to be lucky to trade anything because my descriptions are going to be more like - yellow plant no idea of name but quite pretty comes up every year!!
Anyway i'll give it a go. Favorite plants are roses and least fav is ornamental grass

Gwist, Got a new one, Trailing Blue. Beautiful deep blue. My yellow million bells doesn't like the sun, leaves all got yellow, so moved it into the shade. It's picking up right away, so even though the tag says sun, this one sure doesn't like it. Doris

Hi everyone, Hi read a lot of the posts on all the forums, but mostly hang out on the farm life forum. I live in Central Missouri in the United States. I have an 8-5 job but besides my wonderful family I love working on my farm. I have a few sheep and calves. I moved back to a farm next to the one I grew up on a few years ago. My brother lives there. I am slowly trying to build up my livestock so that when I retire I will have plenty to do I guess. I also love flowers and gardening. With all my hobbies I keep pretty busy.
CottageGardener, I have done some great seed trades with the UK. No problems. I have learned a lot about plants I already have, so when I trade I can try to give latin names. but I also will trade for stuff like my yellow iris for your purple iris type trades. Hope you enjoy Dave's as much as I do.

Hi, I'm Sue from Hanover, PA - a small town in south central
PA 85 miles north of DC. I'm having trouble typing because I
have an infected finger from a rose thorn! The roses look great even if my fingure doesn't! My favorite flower is lavender which is just beginning to flower here.

Hi all, I'm from Milford, Connecticut. I live on the coast where the mouth of the Housatonic River meets the Long Island Sound. My backyard overlooks 840 acres of Audobon protected salt marsh and water and I am up on a little bluff. The wind is a constant factor here and the soil isn't so great. We have lived here for just under three years so the gardens are just starting to look like something. When we first got here there were no beds at all and the soil was so hard that when you jumped on the shovel you bounced right off. We had a heck of a time digging in those beds. My garden is always trial and error, but my goal is to create a habitat that is wildlife friendly and organic. I have a large upper-story of mature trees (oak, maple, etc.) so there is a fair amount of partial shade in a lot of the yard and fairly acid soil (still amending). My gardening style is English Cottage and if I had to pick just one plant (which is close to impossible)...well...every type of foxglove I can get my hands on!

Hey Doris,
Well the rain has finally stopped,so I will post a picture of my Million bells soon.That blue sounds lovely!My white(well,not really)and blue ones are in full sun,in a pot on top of my mailbox! The mailman rang the bell yesterday to apologize for breaking 2 flowers :).What will he do come September..probably hand-deliver the mail!
Gwist

Hi, I'm Julie from Iowa - the Heartland of America. My favorite flower is the hydrangea. The one plant that I can't live without is delphiniums. The one plant I could live without is stinging nettle. We have a bumper crop of it again this year due to a bad bag of birdseed. (You do get what you pay for.) This is a great thread to read!

Hi Gwist! I'll be anxious to see your pictures when you post them. I'll bet your blue ones look pretty up on top of the mailbox! Yes, when the plants get bigger, your poor mailman, especially when he was upset about breaking 2 flowers!! He won't be able to find the door to put the mail in the box. Sounds like you're going to have hand to hand mail delivery! LOL. Doris

hi! I'm Lilith and I'm from Durham in the north east of england. i live out in the sticks next to fields and woodlands so it's really full of wildlife here.

The plants i couldn't live without would have to be my herbs in my herb garden, in particular the coriander, i just love the fresh lemon citrusy smell..

Can i ask a favour to anyone out there? Could anyone tell me how i can get rid of creeping buttercup from my lawns and borders, i can pull it out when weeding, but the lawn is full... short of relaying the turf is there anything else i can do? I'm not really keen on using herbicides and try to keep as organic as possible.

Hello - I'm Ros from rural mid Essex UK
My favourite plant has to be dicentra especially the smaller forms like bacchanalia. I'm very lucky living where I do as I'm not far from Beth Chatto's gardens - bliss!!!!!

Thanks for the thread Mark''I'm Sis and live on the prairie of Kansas' Tornado Alley it's called' It's farms as far as the eyes can see' Our community has under 100people and lots of dogs and cats'I've been to all 48 states and all of Canada with DH on a truck(18wheeler)for now 35 years'The temp was 112 yesterday,was 98 at 5am today' My favorite plant,sooo hard to choose Mark' The rose,Blaze to be exact for the fragrance and blooms'The least of course,Poison Ivy,Oak,it's a nasty one'''Haven't been across the big pond but my grandmother ALWAYS purchased a Irish Sweepstakes Ticket,didn't win though''Darn it'''Glad to meet all of you'Keep in touch' Sis'' Zone5 (NE Kansas)

Hi, I live in NW Florida. About 30 miles east of Panama City.
Must have flower...Rosa eglanteria (sweet brier) Had one but lost it when it started to rain EVERY day.
Could do without "crab-grass" takes over everything when it rains.

Hi,I'm Pierre from Hartlepool on the north east coast of England.
Couldn't choose between lavender and rosemary. I really like the upright form of rosemary it has so many good qualities. My favourite lavender is stoechis(I think its called that).I have them both just outside the entrance to my greenhouse.I'm not fond of bindweed.

Hello Pierre! And welcome!!! I see you're a new member. Lots of friendly folk here.
You live fairly near me. I'm just south of the river in Middlesbrough. That's about 9-10 miles I think. I'm just about melting with this hot weather we're having.
Is Pierre real or a screen-name? Sounds French to me!

I won't mention a single word about the Hartlepool Monkey. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to ...

Hi All, I'm Kate from Middlesex, outside London. Live near to oak woodlands and have oak trees in every garden nearby. Favourite flower (for now, at least) is the hibiscus. I love the double ones, although there's way too much shade in my garden to grow as many as I'd like and everyone else's are in full bloom while mine are still thinking about it. Least favourite - scarlet tulips - they seem too formal.

Hallo, everyone, in UK and beyond! I'm Jane from Haywards Heath, between London and Brighton. Have a tiny garden with a greenhouse, and love growing toms and herbs. My favourite plant wd have to be good ol' lavender, which I'm going to plant up in the even tinier front garden to smell nice for the passers-by. I'm enjoying getting to grips with a garden again having moved back after 7 years in Norway, with its 20-minute growing season. So it seemed. I miss the Northern Lights, 12 varieties of edible mushrooms in the forest, and elk in the garden, but, hey, there are FAR too many other compensations here in Blighty!

I'm Rannveig and I live in a small town just outside (10 min.) Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. I still haven't met a plant I didn't like, but my newest obsession is roses so I don't think I could do without them. However it would be pretty hard to have nothing but roses here since they flower so late ;-) lol I could however do without most weeds, if I could only pick one it would have to be crawling buttercup. My neighbor's yard is filled with them and they don't respect boundaries.

Hi, I'm Madeleine originally from London but now in Florida - I just love the tropicals and have Brugmansia's, crepe myrtles and plumerias growing, I am trying to grow stuff from seed and loving every minute of it - Resin - you know how we have such amazing birds here - my feeders always have something.

Gald to see you taking a rest Dale, I bet you're having to stay out of all that heat. I'm in the living room too, after a walk out in the lovely warm sun it's turned yet again cold and cloudy, if the sun should reappear I might be out in the garden so you will know where to find me, lol.

LOL but Janet it is cold when I go outside the box...sun quit shining here also...but going to be brave and re-pot a few dozen crocosmia for sale...So if I am not back by dinner I am froze outside at the potting bench...then send a hot toddy...ROFLOL

Oh stop it you guys :-)
cold in zone 8...should be here in zone 5,we still have some snow and I would gladly trade to just walk around my garden to see what has survived or is coming up...and yes I also take that hot toddy :-))

But but..we came from warmer climes, it's all a matter of comparison, lol, send you down to zone 2 Eglantyne and you might feel the same :~))

Ye OK, granted we have it good compared to some, but that doesn't stop us feeling the frustration, and i'll bet in zone 5 you don't get maximum temps of 54F (12C) in mid July! Hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it

We should get an average of 21C (70F) in summer, but we often get colder and occasionally warmer so that is the average. I don't know how it is the average because summer is seemingly forever cold, with the first two weeks in August about all you can rely on to be warm. Last year we had a terrible summer, often 14-16C (57-61F) maximum, but the year before was a record hot year so they were telling us it was going to be even hotter. How wrong they were, lol! Grrrr.

This is a small island with weather systems that can push either way, from south or from north, often from the west and occasionally east off the continent (cold in winter) but when the north wins to over the south it's freezing. It comes from the cold of Iceland. Apparently we have one of those high level air currents (if I could remember it's name!) which jostles above us so can cause bad weather if it pushes south.

Up around here (close to the east coast, northeast England), it is the North Sea that is the primary influence on the weather. The sea water is 6°C at its coldest in winter, rising to 13°C in late summer. So the average winter temperature is close to 6°C (dropping a bit as the land cools), and the average summer temperature is close to 13°C (rising a bit on sunny days).

Yep - you're south of Flamboro' Head. Up here, the North Sea is over 60m deep, and has onshore upwelling of cold, deep water*. South of Flamboro' Head, it is much shallower (less than 30m deep) and doesn't have any upwelling, so the water gets quite a bit warmer in summer, around 16 to 17°C.

*That's also what keeps the northern North Sea so fertile, supporting the big seabird colonies on the Farnes and the Scottish east coast. Almost no seabird colonies south of Flamboro'.

No Eglantyne, I didn't know you sent any, unless I have lost my marbles, lol! I don't recall you asking for my address either, am I losing it?? I searched my dmail just in case, I have no records there.

Good grief maybe I lost MY marbles which wouldn't be a surprise with everything we have gone thru the last 2 years !!!
We have moved also so things have been in uproar since we sold a large house withhin 3 days on the market...had to be out in 3 weeks...accumulations of 26 years in that home and over 40 years of marriage.
Here is a link what I have been up to.

Well it's supposed to be hot here, but today that wind resembles the cold northerly I used to know! Of course it is going back into the 80's by Thursday. Eglantyne 3 days that's a record breaker - it's not so good for many around here, we have about 8 homes up for sale in this road and a couple are short sale foreclosures plus a runaway. No you haven't lost your marbles - you just misplaced them in the move! they will probably turn up again some time!
I also went to Flamboro Head some years back - it was cold wet and windy, but I am still glad I went, I also passed through Beverley and years later met a girl from Beverley in a hairdressers in Karachi, this world is shrinking!

Quoting:Yep we are south of flamboro head... I didn't know the sea was shallower here than where you are. Actually our summers normally are 18 to 20, sometimes in the mid twenties.

Yep, the land warms up a little more than the sea does in summer, and cools down a little more in the winter. For up here, the temperature range (late winter mean to late summer mean) in the sea is 7 degrees, but about 12 degrees on the coast, and 14 degrees a bit further inland. Of course on west winds, the sea doesn't have quite the same effect.

Quoting:We may not have the sea birds but we do have the seal colonies... have you been to see them?????

Yep, been to Donna Nook once, mainly to see a rare bird but did see some seals while there. We've got an even bigger Grey Seal colony on the Farnes (about 6,000). They swim long distances to feed, a lot of the Farnes seals go all the way up to Shetland and Norway just on fishing trips, so your Donna Nook seals are well within range of the deeper northern North Sea for feeding. But they will also feed locally, I'd guess.

Thanks for the link Eglantyne, I enjoyed looking at your garden endeavours! You have done a wonderful job, I don't know how you fitted so many roses in. I love the Italianate style, your garden will compliment the house well. I found the next link at the bottom, thanks!

Now I will have to keep up with how it looks this year, rose lust all over again, lol, no good for this climate unless we are lucky to have a warm season.

I am so sorry I forgot to post the second link,a tel.call from our daughter interrupted me.
In case anybody else is interested,this is my story called ' This IS a Rosegarden after alot of Blood,sweat and tears'

Oh no don't tempt me, lol, I have half a mind to look at the site I got my last ones from but I have so many other plants waiting for garden space I would be mad (!!) to go there!

I also have pots and pots of lilium and gladiolus species I am growing from seed, plus the rest, lol. OK, I will take a look but a LOOK only! It's getting late here for planting roses, and I still have Variegata di Bologna in a pot but it's turn is coming soon to go in the ground.

Hi All, I live ten miles from Sheffield at the foot of the Pennines. We're miles from the sea in any direction, but have beautiful countryside with moorland, woods, hills and valleys just a few minutes walk away.

We've had the coldest winter for quite a few years with -10C for a few days in February, but it is looking more spring like now with all the bright spring flowers out and leaves appearing on the crab, hawthorne and quince trees. The weather this week has been mixed to say the least with snow, frost, sun, gales and fog - not really gardening weather!

My favourite plant is my rhubarb - Timperley Early. It grows so fast, probably two or three inches a day at this time of the year and I love the architectural shape of the leaves, the ribs underneath remind me of the arches holding up cathedral ceilings. It also tastes lovely. I'm also waiting for a couple of leaves to get large enough to use as moulds for bird baths as my friends have ordered some after seeing the one I made last year. I think there is a picture of the prototype on one of the threads.

My name is Martin and I live in Rødovre (indeed difficult to pronounce) near Copenhagen, Denmark. I grow caudiciform "thick-rooted"/"Pot-bellied" plants - Pachypodium, Adenium and Cyphostemma among others.

Used to have relatives in København (near Grundtvigs Kirke). Alas no more. Actually, it was mainly the main-line trains (to/from Esbjerg for the DFDS ferry) I was on going through Rødovre, not so often the S-tog though I did go out that way birding (e.g. to see Pungmejse at Porsemose).

THought I better Say Hi officially. I'm Carol and now live in darkest Lincolnshire UK, but when I joined Daves we lived in Keller Texas. Confused the pants of everyone when I announced we were moving to New York!
This one is tiny, blink and you'd miss it, but its a great place to live, particularly if you like historic aircraft. The WWII memorial flight is located a couple of miles away and regularly overflies our garden.

PS to the above - Im not a native Texan - we moved there from Buckinghamshire in the UK. I'm actually a Tyke, born in the East Riding of Yorkshire, but I was a service brat and married a serviceman, so I've had a very mobile life!

Greetings from France, the eastern slopes of the Jura, above Geneva and the Rhone.
My must have plant (of the moment): Heuchera "Sparkling Burgundy"
My can't do without plant: Raspberries, any variety, can't ever have too many
My "hate the thing" plant: Lisseron/morning glory/common or field bindweed
Potagere

The decorative plant I could least live without in my own garden is the beautiful bearded iris.
The food plant I would absolutely hate to be without is the potato (sorry, that's actually 2 plants but people do tend to forget how important the humble 'spud' is. If I had to choose just one plant from all the plants in all the world the potato would win hands down.

The plant I dislike most is the awful 'Mare's tail' weed (don't know it's latin name). What an absolute pain to try to get rid of!!

Thanks Resin! Guess it had to have something nasty in it's name, LOL
'Vulgaris' suits it, but then so would 'Horribilis' :o)

Hi Jim! We-e-e-e-ell 'Mare's tail', 'Horsetail', 'Rat's Tail' same difference I suppose, all a total PAIN when it comes to weeding them out.
Hey, that is a spectacular (and very romantic) view from where I'm sitting.
Ugh!! Convolvulus arvensis - I call it the 'strangler plant' hehehe

I quite like Convolvulus arvensis with its pretty striped flowers - photo attached. I can forgive it for climbing into the lavender and adding to the display. It's the Calystegias I fear!! There's hardly any down here, but my garden was overrun in the UK.

Hi. I'm Pat(rick) George. Born and bred in Northampton, England; but my mum came from Dublin. Lived in London; Kent; Harrow; Buckinghamshire; and Devon. Two years ago, aged seventy, moved to my wife's native Finland. I'm on a massive learning curve! Love growing veg, but in Finnish wwinter I'm reduced to mustard and cress on the windowsill. Sorry to nominate two, but tomatoes and runner beans; both of which I'm strugglinng with over here,

Hey,
Since philomel and hobbyodlaren are so fond of convovulus, I'll make you the same offer I made Gerris2: you can come here and take away the top meter of as much of my garden as you want, and you'll have convovulus to last 10 lifetimes!

~patgeorge: dmail me if you want seed for some tomatoes that will probably work even in Nurmo!

Hi Potagere it called Tomato variegated heirloom from summerhill seeds
Originating from Ireland. It is a pity to use your Nissan. You have warmer climate than me in Sweden I think you can grow tomatoes with success out in the garden.
Resin it is to rainy in UK? :o)

Thank you Dale it not only beautiful foliage on it. The fruit was also very good to eat. :o)
My growing season is soon end here.

Uhu, Black Krim and Hardy Tom some ripened already, others now turning but I haven't got loads this year as it was a very cold start.

Good going on the philipps! Not self compatible either, unless you have two from different parentage but mine was the only one in flower at the time. The plants from it's seed I grew last year are not huge yet but I have some buds! The original is making buds now.

They are out at the nursery I started. I only go out on Sat, Sun & Tues (sometimes). I often forget to bring the camera. I have an automatic sprinkler and use time release fertilizer, all I have to do is weed, pot up and spend time trying to sell the plants.

Resin, want some seeds for Polar Baby? I seeded those indoors in February, set the pots outside (this is a determinate, so I grow it in pots, which stay warmer than the ground, anyway, and can be brought inside if necessary) in April, started picking tomatoes on my birthday in May, and it will produce until frosts. Another good one is Silvery Fir Tree, also grown in pots. I planted it directly in pots on June 1st, have been picking tomatoes since late July and it's just about done, because it hates the heat!
I've a friend in Edinburgh who grows tomatoes outside and always gets a good crop. Not sure what he's planting.

Hello - Rosie here :-)). I always start my tomatoes off in January but keep them wrapped up in a propagtor until the weather is really warm. If they get too big for the propagator - and iv'e got a BIG propagator, I move them into the house which seems to me to be the same temperature as my propagator because my partners elderly father likes it that way. I always get an amazing crop of toms and this year was picking my first fruits in early June - a bit of a cue for this neck of the woods. These were San Mazano which I had grown for the first time - I was really proud too. The weather here is abysmal. I think we got one week of nice dry weather - in April.

I find that the biggest problem with tomatoes is not heat (there are always ways to provide that, either in a propagator, greenhouse or with eldercare :)) but light. Most tomatoes like long days, so, especially when they are seedlings, some kind of prolonged lighting usually has to be provided.

S'funny Potagere, I haven't had a problem with this. They get a bit leggy to start with but then when I plant them in the grow bags they just seem to get stronger. I don't know whether or not it's better to start them off this early - a lot of people start them off much later and still get good results. I suppose tomatoes are just something I really can't wait to plant.

Hello - I am Judi and I live in Portland, Oregon. It have enjoyed reading all your postings. My favorite growing thing are cherry trees - the blossoms are so beautiful in spring!
Here in Oregon tomatoes grow very well - mine are beginning to turn red. I will probably have about 60 tomatoes at the same time so maybe I will make tomato paste and freeze it.
I am interested to know opinions regarding our coming presidential elections - are we allowed to discuss that on DG?

This year I have been growing "Lemon" cucumber, "New Horse Silver" (an open-pollinated Korean cucumber" and "White Star" (an Oriental Hybrid cucumber). While I wait for tomatoes to ripen, I have more cucumbers than I can eat or give away.

I am growing lemon cucumbers and pickling cucumbers but neither are doing well. We are not having a great growing season here. As a matter of fact it has been snowing at 5000 ft elevation in Oregon. We are not ready for winter yet! I hope my tomatoes have a chance to ripen.
Meanwhile I am watching a hurricane hit New Orleans on television. That poor city.

It feels quite autumnal here in Ireland too Judi. No snow yet though. Mind you I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's what natures got in store for us next. We had a rainstore this afternoon which looked more like hail! In September?
BTW I personally don't have any views on any country's political shenannigans. It's one of those subjects that makes me want to curl up and hibernate LOL.
I haven't seen the news today. Poor New Orleans. Hope it doesn't get too bad.
Rosie

I looked those "Crystal Apple" cucumbers up on the Web and almost every photo was identical to the 'Lemon' Cucumbers growing in my garden. These and the Korean cucumbers are all I grow anymore. They are prolific, fairly resistant to mildew, have almost 0 bitterness and retain crunchiness even when you "overlook" one until it has grown big enough to replace the family pet!
It's not looking too bad for N'Orleans, but other parts of Louisiana are gonna have it tough this time around! And also looks like the "Elephant Party" has turned Gustav into a "political shenanigan"! We NEED more tomatoes!!!

LOL pot. If my cukes got as big as my dogs I would be seriously worried - even the little one. All those perfect fruits look exactly the same - photo opportunity for retouched veg . Seed companies just have no imagination. Want to swap some cukes for a boat load of San Mazano?
Do your cukes grow outside or in the greenhouse?
Rosie

Well, imp, my cukes aren't retouched, and they do look like those photos! I just went and checked the fridge! I'm growing them outside now; in the greenhouse in winter. Next summer I will probably grow only the NHS open-pollinated cuke because I am running out of seed and don't want it to cross. I'm lucky; my neighbours only grow the cucumber plants I give them!

Have ordered Sakamari, a Japanese cucumber so maybe I wil have more luck next year. I haven't grown cukes outside for years. Hand polinating old telegraph types was just too tedious but there was always a good crop.

Next year I may try a Japanese cucumber. I will also hand pollinate. Maybe it is time to help out Mother Nature a little. I love lemon cukes but this year is just not a good one here.
Potagere - are you French or an American? I am not a member of that "Elephant" party and after their choice of a mate nothing would surprise me. They are an embarrassment to our country. Despite that, they may be the successful party this year - frightening!
Can I grow cukes indoors?

I've given up on green cucumbers in recent years because I can't take the bitterness and seem to lose the plants to mildew about when they start to produce well. I occasionally buy an "English" (I think these are the 'telegraph' type??) cucumber at the store.

Another thing I like about the NHS is that it keeps making me think it is "parthenocarpic", because it thrives in a closed greenhouse in winter without hand pollination; but then, it does not seem to lose quality in open-pollinated conditions where it is visited by numerous pollinators. I wish I knew or could find out more about it. It is just a super cucumber!

I'm American living in France, Portland1; originally from Spokane. No, no, no!!! Donkeys must rule!!!!

I grow cukes in my greenhouse all winter. So does my sister-in-law in Spokane. The Korean cukes (and even the Lemons) don't seen to require high temps so long as it never gets much under 50 US. Light is more critical; they need good, strong light for at least 6 to 8 hours each day. The windowsill probably won't work.

Hmm strange! You have animals running the country in the US. In the UK they're more like vegetables. Survive better in an enclosed space, come in various hues but all look the same and don't function at all when there's a half an inch of snow on the ground.

All you have to do is go into your member page and where you put the city and state, put your name wherever you want it: at the end or the beginning, in brackets; and it will show up if you'd like to have your name there.

Go to [Your] Homepage
Click on "Manage Your Preferences"
Then, on the second "drop down" menu on the right, click on "Your Location"
Then, in the first box (labeled "Your City"), put your name wherever you want it: at the end or the beginning, in brackets
Mine looks like this: (Jim) Farges

Hello I am from Norway. South in Norway, where we have a little bit longer summer then in the north.
I am wild with caudiform, tropical, Ipomoea, colocasia. I have a hearth for variegated plants in general.
I have just been interested in pond and aquarium and the plants who go there.
We have a greenhouse, a winter garden and a room in the basement to grow new seed.
I haven’t been very active here in posting, mostly because I am a little bit insecure on the language and the grammar in English, but I read the post in Daves garden most every day. :-)

We live just by the sea, we build the house five years ago.
My garden is in change every year.
In the beginning I have a lot of summer flower, but now it is mostly perennial and bulbs.
I have a lot of canna seed, hosta and heuchera that hopefully will do my garden nicer next year. We have done all buy our self in the garden, when we moved here it was only stone, stone and stone again.
I think in the end of next season the garden will be like we wanted.
We have many levels in our garden, I love that. When you don’t know what the next level is hiding.
Next year I will build a brand new pond, and around that pond I would have a lot of cannas.
Here is a picture of one of the ponds we build this year.

snotta, Oh, I am SO envious!!! Maybe Ms Marta, the 4 cats, the dog & I will come live with you!!!
I'd five anything for that seaview!
The stone (slate?) pond is wonderful. How do you get your cannas to grow so big? I have a 'Durban', which is supposed to be very large, beside my pond, but it's no bigger than my minis!!!
I see you have the translucent plastic in your greenhouse. I should have done that!!! I bought glass because the plastic was too expensive, but now it really overheats in the summer!
We have also been in our house 5 years, but we are not so advanced in our landscaping as you are. We are also doing it all ourselves.

snotta and potagere - you both have lovely gardens. Here in Portland I have a very small city - size garden and I wish I had more space. My garden is very full and I just yesterday placed 3 large pots of bamboo to make a screen between my house and the neighbor. snotta do you grow vegetables? When I was in Oslo I fell in love with the sod roofs - very beautiful!

My memories of Portland are from 1967-1968.
Not the same place (as is nowhere) I am sure.
We got this place primarily because in our last "semi-permanent" home, I could not plant anything new without digging out an old friend! Now, I am running in place keeping up with things---and it is still more than 1/2 untamed!
Any photos, Portland?

Just a quickie in case you don't hear from me for a few days. Seems like the arthritis I have on one knee may be a blood clot. I am off to hospital but all is not lost. I have packed a suitcase which includes all the things I will need for a short stay. In my experience, if you come prepared, they will kick you out.
Take care.
Rosie :-))

See I told you! The "bags packed and ready for anything" trick works every time. Thanks for kind thoughts Pot and Portland1. It did the trick! Seems I have what's called a "Baker's cyst" which will disperse over time. No gardening for a while though :-((
Anyway, enough of that. While I had time to think (several hours over several days in waiting rooms does that for a person), I realised that I hadn't been following the thred of this forum - not paying attention as they used to tell me at school.
SOOOO - favorite plant I can't do without has got to be the tomato, not least because I'm good at growing it and getting a really good crop. Can't say that about other things though.
What great pics Pot, sylvia, zest and everyone who posted them. Sorry can't post one of my garden - work in progress :-))

I finally read through all the posts and I didn't know I was supposed to name my favorite plant. That's easy - right now my tomatoes are my favorite, and when they are finished my favorite will be whatever vegetable I plant next. I am a fickle woman.

I got them coming out of my ears - originally from UK so I guess that explains it. At the moment got at least 50 under the sink. Note: Need to be more organised.
Hey Resin, how do you do that funny boxy/quote thing?

Well, I'm Dutch, but I live in Belgium.
I prefer plants that are hardy in my zone (6) and are out of the ordinary.
Ofcourse there are ordinary plants that are beautiful and so I will grow them.
Most of the Belgium gardeners live in a 7 or even 8 zone. I live in a small part of Belgium that used to be called 'Schneifel', that means there is always a lot of snow in winter. It is not as bad now as it used to be 30 years ago, but we have a pretty rough climate and snow until end of April is not unusual. The growing season is rather short here, so I hope to exchange seeds with other people who have the same conditions. I found out that especcially people from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe have a lot of plants that are quite unknown at DG. So if anyone wants to exchange seeds with me, please have a look at my have list. I'm also working at a second list: seeds I have only a few of and are not so common.

I live in Florida now, and have just started getting into Brugs, I have six plants waiting to go into the garden and a couple already doing very well. Also Plumeria - but these are all good for my sub tropical climate - it's over 82*F here today which is about 28*C - I love it.

TULIPS, TULIPS, TULIPS! How much better could it be here in East Tennessee in the spring than to be greeted by over 2000 tulips when I open my front door? Well, anyway, that is how many I planted in the autumn ( not including all the OTHER bulbs I sunk into the earth). Maybe it comes from my Dutch ancestors (Osterhouts), but I simply cannot do without my tulips!

Well it´s cold now, here in Sweden tonight we have -17 degree Celsius. (1,4 degree Farenheit)
So I freeze outside, but it have been a very beautiful sunny day I took this picture for a couple of days ago.
Longing for spring soon and wish for a long long hot summer.
But soon in a couple of weeks I have going on with my seedsowing.
/ Cherio from Sylvia

It is interesting to see the Florida winter plants but I would go crazy without the change in seasons! It is 30 degrees here in Portland, Oregon and most of the trees and plants are bare and the snow comes and goes. There is frost in the mornings and lots of hail and rain. I love the transition from fall to winter and then from winter to spring - keeps us connected to Mother Nature!

Very pretty Portland. We have no snow at the moment but temperatures down to minus 11 last night Hobbyodlaren and everywhere has been frozen solid all day. I'm waiting to start my tomatoes and peppers off in the propagator but it's going to have to wait until the outside temperature rises a little.
Dale stop annoying me with your sunshine LOL

Minus 11 degrees - is that C or F? Either way, it is really cold there! Today it is about 40 degrees and rainy. I went outside to tie up a few branches that are looking distressed since the wind is supposed to pick up. So far it looks as though the rest of my yard has survived the 15" of snow but we'll see what the remaining weeks of winter will bring! I am considering turning my 103 year old garage into a greenhouse since it was built for a carriage and won't accommodate a car anyway. I would love to have a place to start seedlings for vegetables.
Dale, your photos are beautiful.
I started reading this thread months ago and somehow lost touch but I do like hearing what people around the world are doing. Happy New Year! I'm hopeful that for my country it will be a better year.

Here it is -15°C (+5°F). Usually we have these temperatures in February, but freezing started here on December 29. The week before I winter sowed a lot of seeds for the first time.
Being so cold here, I love to see pictures of plants in warmer zones. I can't grow them here. But on the other hand, I can grow plants that would not survive in the heath.

We could use some cooler weather, we have been 10* F above normal. Hot and muggy is not pleasant year round. I am considering moving back to San Francisco, CA just to get the seasons back into my life.